BROWN SPIRITS REPORT: IRISH WHISKEY
appeal has brought the spirit industry’s heavyweights to the table, as they look to snare a share of the lucrative sector. In January, Diageo revealed its
foray into the premium Irish whiskey category with blend Roe & Co. This coincided with an announcement to pump €25m ($26.5m) into converting Dublin’s famed Guinness Power House on Thomas Street into a new distillery at St James’s Gate. Created as a response to drive
overall category growth through premiumisation, Diageo said the bottling’s modern and contemporary luxury cues are designed to make Irish whiskey more appealing among cocktail aficionados.
Room for new & old brands The liquid itself is produced from hand-selected stocks of Irish malt and grain whiskies aged in bourbon casks, selected by Diageo Master Blender Caroline Martin and her team. According to Diageo, the taste
profile is smooth, balancing the fruitiness of the malt with the mellow creaminess of the grain to produce a flavoursome taste profile. Named after George Roe, a
famous 19th Century Irish Whisky maker, Roe & Co uses a high proportion of first-fill casks to deliver notes of vanilla with fruit and soft spice to deliver the 45% ABV non- chill filtered fluid. As an enduring influence in the
category, Pernod Ricard’s most recent half-year 2016/17 sales and results showed strong growth for pillar brand Jameson. Group organic sales grew by +4% to reach €5,061m ($5,367m). Sales
in the US, up +5%, were buoyed by +19% gains for the triple distilled brand. Across its top 14 brands, Jameson helped propel growth of +6%. In Asia Pacific travel retail, the trend is similar. “Sales of Jameson continue to rise
globally as the whiskey is becoming more recognised for its craft and heritage as well as being enjoyed in classic cocktails,” explains Nodjame Fouad, Marketing Director Pernod Ricard Travel Retail Asia Pacific. “We have seen strong growth in
the region, well ahead of the overall category, particularly in the Pacific.” Last year, Pernod Ricard launched
the Jameson Deconstructed Series as a GTR exclusive, which included three variants: Jameson Bold, Jameson Round and Jameson Lively. All three use components of Jameson Original as a platform for new expressions. “We are seeing a demand from
consumers in Asia for brands that have a rich heritage and unique narrative like Jameson,” says Fouad. “The brand’s culture and history
are intriguing to locals and we leverage this interest with products and activities in Asia Pacific Travel Retail that tell the story of its authentic Irish influence.”
Brown-Forman’s Slane Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail has also got in on the act. Only last month, it marked the exclusive launch of new brand creation Slane Irish Whiskey with a rollout at Aer Rianta International’s (ARI) The Loop stores at Dublin and Cork airports. It is currently being released
across Ireland following the travel retail execution running for the
Irish whiskey’s unquestionable appeal has brought the spirit industry’s heavyweights to the table, as they look to snare a share of the lucrative sector.
TRBusiness
Above left: Roe & Co cocktail. Above right: Caroline Martin, Master Blender.
month of April, and is due to be released in the UK, Australia and the US later this summer. The new liquid blends high
quality grain and malt Irish whiskeys through a triple-casked method using Virgin, seasoned and sherry casks to produce a complex and robust flavour. The launch of Slane comes almost
two years after Brown-Forman revealed it was purchasing Slane Castle Irish Whiskey Limited. The company had initially broken
ground for its state-of-the-art distillery in September 2015 – Brown- Forman’s first foray into Irish whiskey and its first distillery outside the US. At the time of the announcement,
it said the first batches of Slane introduced this year would use whiskey purchased from other Irish distilleries finished to Slane’s recipe, while the first whiskey expressions from the distillery were laid down to mature. “We’re beginning to integrate
Brown-Forman’s portfolio in more depth with the launch of Slane Irish Whiskey,” comments Colton Payne, Customer Marketing Manager, Global Travel Retail. And there is no doubt Irish Whiskey
The Jameson Deconstructed Series has proven to be a big hit in GTR. MAY 2017
will continue to integrate and exploit the brown spirits category for many years to come. «
TRBUSINESS 151
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186
